Jennifer Amaya tells her story during the Michigan Organizing Project press conference outside of Congressman Fred Upton's office on mall in Kalamazoo, Jan. 15, to kick off a campaign to push for immigration reform. MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette file photo

The following is a letter to the editor that was sent to the Kalamazoo Gazette.

AURA M. PROVANCHER/Portage

I am an immigrant who became a productive member of this society. I support Comprehensive Immigration Reform with a path to citizenship.

I taught English as a Second Language in Kalamazoo for many years. I interacted with immigrant families and got to know them very well. They are hard-working people who labor at the meat slaughter plants, the farms and fields,the restaurants, the greenhouses, the dairy farms, clean houses, and do work that no others want to do. God bless them. They pay taxes, spend their money to boost our economy and most important, they value education. Where would you be without us?

Let's not turn immigrants into criminals by denying them a driver's license. Let's not rip their families apart through deportation. Let's be fair and provide Comprehensive Immigration Reform with a path to citizenship. It is the just thing to do.